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12 October 2011

An Affordable Wardrobe for Esquire.com

Friend, neighbor and Top Shelf Flea Market lieutenant James of 10Engines and I have a very nerdy, high school debate team style parlay over the appropriatenes of Western clothing on men other than ranch hands and rodeo riders in Blogger Showdown at Esquire.com.

It was a pleasure, and I had a great time. My only regret is not bringing ZZ Top circa 1974 into the discussion.

15 comments:

I'm from a family that settled in Oklahoma before it was a state (1907). Before that my people were from Kentucky (led by Daniel Boone after the Revolutionary War) and before that Virginia (1630).

I think that "real" cowboys can obviously pull off the look but even in OK where my family owned a small ranch, I would not have tried to wear cowboy shirts unless it was to a party or dance. (I'm a woman, btw.) I do think that there is a "preppy" style that does co-exist in OK and TX (probably brought by the oil industry from back east).

One often finds a traditionally dressed-shetland sweatered even-farm-boy/girl, with or without boots, but one rarely finds one done up in the whole cowboy look - that is for the "help". (I don't mean that in a arrogant way, the fact is that real cowboys were traditionally hired hands.)

P.S. Real cowboys are at their best in clean duds and boots on the dance floor of a great western ballroom:

Good discussion. I've got a few cowboy shirts, but I'm a farmer's son from the deserty half of Washington so it makes sense. Of course, to the real farmers and rodeo people in my family I'm the city slicker, so I don't go too far. No pointy boots, big belt buckles or cowboy hats.

Thrifted a few western shirts a while back, one Sears, one Wrangler. Love wearing them to do yard work. Love the snap buttons on the front pockets to keep things from falling out while hunched over pulling weeds. Fall is in full effect in south east MI. While racking leaves yesterday I had on a Sears western shirt, canvas Carhartt pants, LL Bean rubber mocs and a Kershaw in my pocket.